Training Legends
by roboYeti
Summary: AU: An insane goddess trapped in the moon, demons on a heavenly council sealing her away, summoned beasts kidnapping people for their contracts and hormonal teenagers to teach! What's a poor jounin who just wants to get a genin team supposed to do? Rated T for now, may go to M later.
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own naruto**

 **Prologue** :

 _Once upon a time…._

Years ago, before time as we know it, before the time of the ninjas, a woman by the name of Kaguya stole a mystical fruit from the world tree located within the Celestial realm. Upon eating it she gained great power, power to rival that of Kami himself. She ruled the human realm for several years, worshipped as a goddess until her power corrupted her. For with absolute power comes absolute corruption and she turned upon the humans. She declared that all chakra was hers and hers alone, that humanity was a blight upon 'her' world and she would not allow them to use 'her' chakra to destroy it. Her twin sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, stood against her. After a long war that left the lands half dead and Kaguya badly wounded, Kaguya merged with the World Tree in an attempt to save herself and gain power to defeat her sons. She became the Ten Tails, filled with more power than any mortal should hold. At this point the Shinigami and Kami stepped in and helped the twins with a seal. The seal stole the chakra from Kaguya and placed it within Hagoromo. While this happened Hamura sealed the wooden tree body that contained the soul of his mother into the darkside of the moon. He left to sit upon the moon and guard the seal while his brother, soon to become known as the Sage of Six Paths, wandered the world, using his chakra to heal the damage of the war.

As he felt his and his twin's lives coming to an end he sought a way to keep the seal upon their mother strong; for he knew that humans desired power and that one day they would seek to release her in a misguided attempt to gain power. He spilt the power up; at first nervous and only taking small parts until he gained confidence and released more. Eventually the ten tails power was all released into nine parts. The sage used natural energy to tie the power into a corporal body. He then wandered with his 'children,' as he called them, letting them see the new world that was blooming all around them.

Each of these bodies eventually took on an animal like form to resemble the animals they liked best. Upon this, they solidified and truly became the tailed beasts, a biju, real and not ghost like. Upon this moment, the Sage gave each a name. The names were lost to humans over time, instead replaced by a title of how many titles each had.

Each of these chosen favored animals had a clan in the Nature Plane, which humans call the summoner's realm. Seeing a way to gain power and get the annoying human Godlings to acknowledge them; said clans offered to take in each biju as a "Guardian" of a new seal that held Kaguya captive in the darkside of the moon. Seeing a solution to the defense of the seal he and his twin had made, the Sage summoned his twin from the moon for one last time; one last task. Each Biju combined a bit of their power with the clans into a seal; strengthening and surrounding the Sage and his brother's seal. The Biju's were called "Guardians" and Kami declared them apart of a "Heavenly Council" for their work in protecting the world from the dangerous Kaguya. Eventually the power of the Biju became too great and it upset the natural plane's balance. Seeing this they left back for the mortal realm, leaving behind their seat of power for the strongest of the animal clan to hold for them; the animals took the title of "Boss" rather than Guardian as they did not wish to replace the Biju's who they'd become fond of. As time passed the Toad clan suddenly gained a seal and seat upon the Heavenly Council. Through the secrets of their oil they had unlocked the ability to increase their affinity for natural energy like the Biju's had naturally. They called the state "sage mode" in honor of the Sage of 6 paths; through it the strongest of their kind gained the power almost like a Biju's. Seeing this they worked out how to add a new seal to the moon. As it went into effect, the other animal clans had to acknowledge their power as it worked and took the strain off the other 9 seals.

Years went by with no change…. Humans lost the knowledge of what had happened, of who Kaguya was, the purpose of the Biju's and the Heavenly Council. They came to call the great beasts "demons" simply because they were too powerful, too dangerous. In time they learned to seal them away and steal the Bijus power for themselves… this hurt and warped the tailed beasts, no longer were they content to sit in peace. Now they fought back; this was no longer the sweet world their father had traveled through with!

Once the many different animal clans had a contract scroll and many summoners; but as the years passed and the warring period came upon the humans their summoners numbers decreased. Soon contracts were hoarded among a particular family of humans and when they died, through war or age or disease, the contract was lost. As of today, almost a thousand years after the Sage passed away, the contracts are rare and the beasts of the nature plane have ceased to think of humans too much. It wasn't until one event that the animals within the natural plane were shaken from their contented lives. They had lived for long years simply content to take on humans as a summoner, using the power of the humans to increase their own prestige. But the consequences of the Minato Namikaze's actions upon the day he died shook their plane out of its complacent life.

Today within Konoha, the Yondaime is mostly famous for sealing the nine tails… but his greatest change wrought in his city was not that. His greatest change and gift given to Konoha was the change in schooling. A year into his term as Hokage he rewrote the rules of the pre-Academy and Academy. Raising the graduation age of the pre-academy, where he had them focus on all things intellectual and theory, to a minimum of 9, he halted the use of child soldiers in Konoha. The civilian's academy stayed mostly the same, focusing on practical things and getting their students apprenticed. The shinobi academy however changed drastically. Now one could only graduate at the age of 13 at the earliest and that only if you entered at the age of 9 to 11. No longer were students allowed to skip a year because each year focused on certain skills; the more dangerous lessons were held back until the last two years so that drop outs did not learn anything too dangerous. Instead of relying upon jounin sensei's to teach chakra control, trapping, stealth, and other vital skills, instead they were taught before graduation. Now the jounin's were able to focus on things like actual jutsu's, more advanced fighting styles, weaponry, and missions. This cut down on the strongest ninja's being taken out of mission duty for too long; and made the civilians and older ninjas happier knowing that their children would not have to kill too soon and would be granted a childhood. Some clans were upset; why were their children being denied the power that they had available to them at a young age? But their complaints were ignored for the most part as proof of the Yondaime's changes came about in the coming years. Now genin's were strong enough to be trusted with tasks and could protect their clients instead of relying upon the jounin alone. The age difference alone made more jounins willing to take on a team; since they weren't going to be babysitting snot nosed brats and instead had more mature (though hormonal) teenagers to lead more were willing to put in the time away from high paying missions and into teaching.

However the Yondaime never got to see this come to fruition; 3 years into his term his wife gave birth... and a masked man took the opportunity in her weakened seal holding back the nine tails to release it upon Konoha. Death and destruction followed; under control of a fully mature Sharigan, the nine tailed fox laid waste to Konoha. After a desperate battle, he summoned the boss summons of the Toads to hold back the crazed beast as he worked on a seal. Once it was finished, Minato summoned the Shinigami and took half of the nine tail's chakra with him to death as the rest was sealed within his newborn son by his dying wife.

Unbeknownst to Minato; Kurama, the nine tails', chakra and soul being halved into yin and yang and then subsequently losing one half to the Shinigami weakened the seal upon the moon greatly. The ripple was first felt by the fox tribe; but soon each Boss summon seated upon the Heavenly Council noticed. They summoned a meeting of all clans; they needed to know what happened, why the seal had suddenly decreased by half and shaken the moon. Once all were present, the foxes looking exhausted as the missing chakra now had to come from them instead of Kurama, a large toad stepped forward; Gamabunta.

All noticed his bandaged state and look of worry upon his brow.

"I know what has happened." He said and all went quiet. "I was summoned into battle against Kurama; except he was not himself. He did not speak, did not react to me. He merely attacked a human city blindly. And.. .the way he attacked was strange." He sighed and rubbed a webbed hand across his face. "It was.. as if he was struggling. He didn't use any of his most powerful attacks; almost like he.. didn't want to fight. But was forced too." He looked at the fox boss sadly. "I battled him to a standstill and then I was desummoned upon the death of my contractor. Minato did something stupid; he split Kurama in half, into Yin and Yang."

Growls from the gathered crowd were heard. To split someone like that was to split their soul! No wonder the seal was weakened!

"And then that blasted fool took half of Kurama within into the Shinigami's stomach. The other half was sealed I think." Gamabunta bowed deeply. "I am sorry... this… I do not know how to undo the damage done by my contractor."

Voices raised as they clambered; animals each talking, accusing, worried, wondering… what do they do now? A soft voice emerged from the water to one side. A large great white shark was circling about, behind him were, strangely enough, the dolphin, orca, and whale leaders.

"Perhaps... a solution we have?" He growled.

Hitotsuyanagi, a large dragon that was perched above them growled to quiet everyone so he could hear the sharks word.

"Speak Takasane. If you have a way to fix the toad's mistake…"

"Tis not his mistake." Iwamura, the large male orca hissed in amusement. "Tis human stupidity as usual. But yes. We do have an.. idea that ought to work. With help of course." The dolphin squeaked her agreement.

Takasane, the shark grinned, showing altogether too much teeth.

"Perhaps a new guardian ought to work? We do happen to have a... suitable potential yes."

Silence followed by interested murmurings. All the clans wanted to have their own Guardian; not only was it a huge power boost and prestigious, it was an honor to be one of those who held the seals up against the insane goddess Kaguya. If they had found a way… perhaps it would also open up a seat for other clans?

"We have a summoner; one Kisame Hoshigaki. The humans call him the tailless beast. His chakra reservoirs are... most impressive. I might even dare say he could challenge me. If we could teach him to walk the path of a Sage… perhaps he could become a guardian with our aid to strengthen the weakened seals?"

"We would support and aid the sharks." Nagai, a large male whale spoke in his deep echoing voice. "With our collective clans, the sharks could support a Guardian."

"We have decided to gather together and call ourselves the Sea Hunter clan." Iwamura, the orca followed up with his comment.

"We would just need… aid in figuring out this Sage business." The dolphin, Himeno, chuckled. "If Kisame could match his chakra with natural energy.. he should be strong enough! And we all know the seals; tis just a matter of power isn't it?"

The groups separated and began to talk amongst themselves. It sounded like a solid plan! And one they could all take advantage of later! If they could also find someone of suitable power…!

"You would.. choose a human to become a guardian?" Moromochi, the fox boss, asked tiredly. "Can he be trusted to not let her go?" She was merely being wary; if this could work she wanted it too! The loss of Kurama's power had hit her people hard and they were weakened right now as all of them poured their chakra and natural energy into the seal to try and make up for the loss. It had stopped the seal from breaking, but she knew it was too weak to stand for long. And should another clan attack; her people would be forced to choose between defending their land or releasing their seal.

"He is honest. He is loyal. He is hurting from betrayal himself." Takasane murmured softly. "He loves to fight, but is not berserk. He seeks to improve himself, but does not seek power for powers sake. He wants to live a life not clouded by lies… would this not be something he wants? He is also.. part shark already and our contractor."

"If this can work, I support you." Moromochi stated before curling up and sitting down.

"As do I." Gamabunta spoke up. "In fact… we will teach all the use of toad oil. Perhaps we have been too proud and greedy in keeping it to ourselves… if this can help fix what our contractor caused than it shall be done."

At this even the haughty dragon perked up and grinned. The toads had ever guarded their secret… and the power it brought!

"But beware;" Gamabunta continued; " To use it is to court death. I don't suppose you have seen the circle of stone toads?" He asked the crowd and received murmurs of assent. "They were all once alive, and all sought the power of a Sage. If you take in too much natural energy it turns you to stone. Our oil merely makes it easier to access… and easier to lose control."

At this some animals stirred at his words reminded them of something. There were places that caused one to.. change. To turn to coral, or stone, or burn up; was it the same way? The silent large scorpion spoke for the first time; "Does it... feel like power thrumming through your body? Like all sound is louder, colors brighter? If so… we know of a location. Shukaka's den when he last lived here. It is... odd and if you venture too far in you are turned into a quartz statue."

"Isubo left behind a coral reef where you turn to coral itself if you enter. Tis quite beautiful." A large octopus spoke up; Hikiane the leader of all in the ocean but the clans that claimed to be 'sea hunters.' "I admit that it does feel like… the water sings when you are about it."

Gamabunta nodded. "That sounds… very like what we have… I will have our elders talk to yours about how we train to ... try and keep our potential sages from killing themselves."

"So tis not reversible?" A voice called out.

"If it is... we have yet to find it." Gamabunta responded sadly.

"We thank you for this." Takasane spoke up. "We will find you once we have talked to Kisame and bring him here…"

"In the meantime… we will also be searching for more of these... places where one can access natural energy easier. I suspect they will be easy to find." Hiko, the scorpion said with amusement.

"And gather about us more contractors." The large brindled wolf perched on a rock above Hiko barked. "For each contractor does bring in more power to support a seal… and from what I have seen summoned beasts grow faster in strength and chakra. If we can strengthen ourselves maybe we won't need a human guardian." He grinned and eyed Gamabunta, remembering when they were both small and how the toad had grown faster once he'd been summoned. "Perhaps I ought to go speak to the old clans mine once favored…"

With that the clan boss's left, small clouds appearing where they once were as they transported out of there. It was time to hunt for power; hunt for contractors and keep Kagurya sealed. Territorial wars could continue after they were safe; till then it appeared that they would be focusing upon the mortal realm for once…

 _AN: My first fanfic tis started! Chapter one is really just starting the stage... next chapter you get to meet my OC, the main character. If you notice grammar or spelling errors let me know so I can change em._

 _This world is like canon but very much AU! I added a lot of things, got rid of some and warped others. So yes, I know my characters may act ooc, or somethings are very different and stuff._

 _Major difference is AGE. I upped the ages cause I felt like older genins made more sense. If you want more information than I provided I do happen to have a huge doc with background info and stuff._

 _Have an idea you think would work? Toss it my way; I love discussing world building and plots!_

 _Not sure about pairings._


	2. Chapter 1: Meeting the new teacher

**Edit: wow that had some bad formatting errors when I copied it over. Should be fixed now!**

 **Ch 1: Meet your new teacher!**

A small city called Konoha buzzes with activity as a new school season starts. Once a hidden village of shinobi nestled with in the deep forests of the Land of Fire, Konoha has grown significantly, no longer a secret hideout for ninjas. Now it is a small city; filled with merchants, crafters, and the rest of the civilians settled at the center of the city about the Hokage's tower with the clan lands and training grounds surrounding the cliff side that brackets one edge of the city. Carved into the cliff side are the faces of the first four Hokages, leaders and legends that built and guided Konoha till today. The city looks small at first, a good sized collection of buildings at the base of the cliff side; but for miles around the lands are claimed and cultivated for a variety of purposes. Some are left wild with obstacle courses within them; training grounds for the shinobi. Some are clan lands; each clan has a plot of land where they live and work; lands dedicated to supplying the city with food, medicine, materials, and products that make up the majority of the goods sold within Konoha and exported as well. Most of these clans are Shinobi based; some, however, are civilian based.

Perched on top of the carved head of the first Hokage, an adult shinobi by the name of Konila sits and watches her village in the morning light. Tall and lean, her body is built for speed; the muscles strong but flexible. Her curves are gentle, she works out far too much for fat to stay and soften her muscles. She is dressed in comfortable clothes; dark blue cargo pants that end mid-calf, their pockets full of tools. On top is a pale blue hoodie, unzipped half way to reveal the mesh shirt underneath over a black tank top. A belt holds several pouches as well as two tantos and a Katana strapped to it completes her look. About her left thigh a band with a metal plate is tied; her heit-te denoting her as a shinobi of the leaf. While she is technically off duty, she still carries around enough of her gear just in case she is attacked; one can never be too prepared!

Konila has straight light brown hair tied into a pony tail, a few strands escaping to frame her face. Her skin is tanned from the many years of outdoors training and missions, pale scars tracing her limbs where she's been hit before. Her bright blue eyes are half lidded as she watches with a soft smile her town wake up. She is a jounin of Konoha, the vest that shows her rank is in her house; she almost never wears it, much preferring her warm hoodies.

Today was January 3, 997 since the death of the Sage and she was once again without a team to teach. Every year for the past 3 years she's put in a request to become a jounin sensei to train the newest batch of genins to graduate. She did love to teach… but because she was "too young" or "too crazy" or, as one of the civilian councilors had said once, "had no real skills," she was passed over again. She could honestly say some days she really hated the civilian side of the council and the large clans that had a seat upon the full council that kept blocking her. It wasn't that she was crazy or unskilled; she simply had no connections! Sure she was a bit scary on the field and did love to tease people… but Konila was good at what she did; infiltrations, spying, and sabotage. Sometimes assassinations; in out, quick and quiet. Other times she lived for months on end in other lands, gathering information and counterattacking or dealing with potential threats before they could come to hurt Konoha. As such her bingo book entry was short and pretty much empty of information on her; it only existed because she was publically jounin class. Since no one could really link her to anything, and most of her skills were not flashy other hidden villages did not have a lot to add to it. Her public missions that the civilians had access to did not show her real skill set; all they knew was that she was decent across the board, used blades with great skill and claimed mastery of stealth and traps. It showed nothing of her skills at silent killings, infiltrations, or her true mastery of Kenjustsu.

She was also clanless; her father was a merchant who'd moved to Konoha from the Land of Iron and married her mother, a simple chef at one of the Akimichi restaurants. Without a clan to back her requests up or showy skills to call attention to her, Konila was passed over for other Jounin senseis. One of which, she sighed, would definitely fail his team. One Kakashi Hatake never passed a team! But they kept giving him a team instead of her. She grumbled to herself as she stretched and headed down into town. I wonder if I can do something this year to get them to give me a team; she thought. Maybe take less assassination missions and take something that will land me in the spotlight? She thought but then sighed and shook her head; that was the way to pain and death!

Maybe if I volunteer at the academy… She stopped before grinning; that was a good idea! That way she could show she was a decent teacher as well as see potential students! And if I don't get a team I can always try grabbing an apprentice if I find one who wants to be good with a blade and wants to be a stealthy ninja instead of showy.

A plan made she changed paths towards the hokage's tower; time to ask permission! Surely they could use some help teaching kenjutsu or stealth right?

She was pleasantly surprised when the Hokage appeared enthusiastic about her request./p

"Nee, Hokage sama, not to be rude but I wasn't expecting such a response." She said dryly. The old man in front of her was old; an age that most ninjas never saw much less remained in power! There was no denying he was weaker than he might have once been; but even now he was still a force to be feared. Even if he did have this grandfatherly act going on! He smirked and lit his pipe.

"There is a rather important class in their third year. Many clan heirs are within it as well as several highly skilled civilian children. Unfortunately the civilian council keeps trying to butt in and change the curriculum on me… And buying off some teachers to sabotage or favor certain children." He sighed grumpily at that. Konila could figure out who was being sabotaged and who was being favored. It was well known that the civilians hated and feared one orphan by the name of Naruto Uzamaki because of the demon sealed within him. Idiots if you asked her! Not to mention they wanted to make the shinobi clans in debt to them… or have some sort of leverage. They were a bunch of idiots who didn't realize that the academy had been changed for the better and gave all their children a higher chance at surviving!

"I've had to fire a few teaching assistants and that is leaving my teachers a bit stressed. If you would be willing to take over the stealth lessons until I can find a permanent teacher it would help. It'd be even more helpful if you became full time but alas, your skill set is still needed."

She nodded in acceptance. Assassins that didn't die or become broken were a rare thing. Saboteurs land infiltration specialist had as long if not shorter life expectancy. It was one reason they even bothered to put her in the bingo books despite have almost no intel... or maybe because of it.  
"Can do. So I shall still be taking on missions while helping out?"

"Correct. I'll let them know you will be the main teacher for the survival and stealth lectures of the third years. They may ask you to aid in sparring lessons or teaching weaponry. Depends on how over whelmed they get." His eyes twinkled as he finished writing up her new orders and the paper work needed to move her off active duty to semi active. He handed the orders over and directed her to report to the Academy head for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Konila found herself a bit nervous as she stood inside a large room inside the top floor of the academy. They'd called a teachers meeting to introduce her as well as figure out the new curriculum since she was coming in a day late.

"I believe you've all been updated on our new teacher?" A deep voice drawled out lazily from the man slouched at the front of the room. Matsura Nara was the head of the academy despite it being 'troublesome.' A scattering of murmurs acknowledgement swept from the crowd of chuunins eyeing her.

Matsura nodded to her, lazy eyes amused as she straightened and stepped forward.

"I am Konila Inola, jounin with specialties in infiltration, traps, and swords. I applied for a temporary position here at the academy to prove I can teach and maybe that will convince the council to approve me for a genin team." She smiled at the raised eyebrows. "I was told it was to be only for this year or until a proper full time lecture for the stealth and survival class could be found. Unfortunately, I am still semi active so every now and then I will need to be absent for missions."

A man with warm brown eyes and a scar across his nose smiled back as he stood to address. "I am Iruka Umino. Thank you for volunteering to help out. With the last round of … firings;" He paused with embarrassment for his fellow ex teachers. "It's been a bit of scrambling on our side. We could teach it, but we all have other classes during that time slot."

"Mizuki. I don't suppose you'd be up for some kenjutsu lessons on the side?" The man with a long whitish hair next to Iruka introduced himself as he asked his question.

"I don't mind. When is my class by the way? And is there a past lesson plan or shall I wing it?" Konila asked curiously. She didn't mind winging it, but if they had something in place already that would help guide her in what the kids were supposed to know it'd be a big help. She noticed approval in several other of the teacher's eyes.

Iruka held up a folder. "I have both last year's lesson plan and the few years before that. Your students have had a day with another teacher but luckily you've arrived soon enough there shouldn't be too much time left."

"As for times;" Matsura spoke up, "you have three classes of two hours each four days a week. They are at 8 am, 10 pm, and 3pm. Fridays are reserved for lecture only classes, kounichi classes, and specialization lectures for students have shown aptitude that needs to be nurtured. Saturdays are test days as well as hands on lectures and mini missions that we will be calling on you to help in. Sundays are free days."

"That is... more intense than I expected." She was a bit surprised at the sheer amount of classes she had to teach. She knew that most teachers here did double duty in the afternoon at the missions desk and had expected more time off. Not that it mattered since she was going to be focusing this to prove she could teach and earn that genin team! "When are kenjutsu lessons?"

"They aren't." Mizuki replied. "Least not yet. We haven't had a kenjutsu specialist to teach."

"I guess that goes in Friday then?"

"I will announce an afternoon lecture after lunch then that all students years 3 or 4 may apply for then." Matsura wrote this down as he was talking. "I will need a lesson plan from you on that before Friday please."

"Hai." She responded eagerly as the conversation then turned to the next item on the list, supplies and the like. She watched and listened mostly. This was unknown territory... but one she thought she could use in future infiltration missions perhaps.

Konila was given a new respect for the chunnins who ran the academy and taught there. While she technically outranked them she felt that all the teachers ought to be upgraded to jounin based on simply surviving the hell that is young teenagers being taught lessons and somehow keeping them under control. She also had some preconceptions shattered she was ashamed to realize. Like many who had reached the jounin status, she believed that chuunins were weaker somehow. They may not have been as good as her in killing people or blowing things up or sneaking in... but they were all masters of their branch of knowledge and good enough to teach. Wasn't there a saying that to truly learn something you had to be able to teach it to another?

Her reception among the teachers was half wary and half gratitude. Wariness as she outranked them and no one liked another barging in and trying to take control; not that Konila had any intentions on doing so. She was merely filling in in hopes of grabbing a team in the future; maybe this graduating class, maybe the next one. The feeling of gratitude was because she was taking a load off their backs by being there full time (minus missions but those she figured would be rare and she'd kidnap a fellow jounin to fill in) as well as she was helping out and adding in new lecture materials. The fact she didn't lord it over them or treat them as lesser (even if she found herself unknowingly assuming things) helped her find an easy comrade in the coming days./

She was currently reading over her lesson plan one last time. She had a class of third years in an hour and was figuring out how to start. 2 hours ought to be long enough to get each class to run an obstacle course of traps to see how well they could sneak by or disarm them right?

She took a deep breath as she sensed the first students arriving for the first class. Time to see how well she could teach!

 _AN: Hopefully the huge time skip (about 13 years) doesn't throw you off!_

 _Haven't decided if she gets one of the ones graduating this year (the year between Naruto's class and Lee's who she just missed getting a team on) or a team from Naruto's class. It'll be a nice amount of time/chapters before this cause I intend to have fun with her as a teacher!_

 _I think I managed to get most of the japanese words correct. I intend to stick with english names for most things except names, titles, and the endings (kun-san-sensei-chan)_

 _Thanks for reading~_


	3. Chapter 2: Day one

**Edit: wow that had some bad formatting errors when I copied it over. Should be fixed now!**

 **Ch 1: Meet your new teacher!**

A small city called Konoha buzzes with activity as a new school season starts. Once a hidden village of shinobi nestled with in the deep forests of the Land of Fire, Konoha has grown significantly, no longer a secret hideout for ninjas. Now it is a small city; filled with merchants, crafters, and the rest of the civilians settled at the center of the city about the Hokage's tower with the clan lands and training grounds surrounding the cliff side that brackets one edge of the city. Carved into the cliff side are the faces of the first four Hokages, leaders and legends that built and guided Konoha till today. The city looks small at first, a good sized collection of buildings at the base of the cliff side; but for miles around the lands are claimed and cultivated for a variety of purposes. Some are left wild with obstacle courses within them; training grounds for the shinobi. Some are clan lands; each clan has a plot of land where they live and work; lands dedicated to supplying the city with food, medicine, materials, and products that make up the majority of the goods sold within Konoha and exported as well. Most of these clans are Shinobi based; some, however, are civilian based.

Perched on top of the carved head of the first Hokage, an adult shinobi by the name of Konila sits and watches her village in the morning light. Tall and lean, her body is built for speed; the muscles strong but flexible. Her curves are gentle, she works out far too much for fat to stay and soften her muscles. She is dressed in comfortable clothes; dark blue cargo pants that end mid-calf, their pockets full of tools. On top is a pale blue hoodie, unzipped half way to reveal the mesh shirt underneath over a black tank top. A belt holds several pouches as well as two tantos and a Katana strapped to it completes her look. About her left thigh a band with a metal plate is tied; her heit-te denoting her as a shinobi of the leaf. While she is technically off duty, she still carries around enough of her gear just in case she is attacked; one can never be too prepared!

Konila has straight light brown hair tied into a pony tail, a few strands escaping to frame her face. Her skin is tanned from the many years of outdoors training and missions, pale scars tracing her limbs where she's been hit before. Her bright blue eyes are half lidded as she watches with a soft smile her town wake up. She is a jounin of Konoha, the vest that shows her rank is in her house; she almost never wears it, much preferring her warm hoodies.

Today was January 3, 997 since the death of the Sage and she was once again without a team to teach. Every year for the past 3 years she's put in a request to become a jounin sensei to train the newest batch of genins to graduate. She did love to teach… but because she was "too young" or "too crazy" or, as one of the civilian councilors had said once, "had no real skills," she was passed over again. She could honestly say some days she really hated the civilian side of the council and the large clans that had a seat upon the full council that kept blocking her. It wasn't that she was crazy or unskilled; she simply had no connections! Sure she was a bit scary on the field and did love to tease people… but Konila was good at what she did; infiltrations, spying, and sabotage. Sometimes assassinations; in out, quick and quiet. Other times she lived for months on end in other lands, gathering information and counterattacking or dealing with potential threats before they could come to hurt Konoha. As such her bingo book entry was short and pretty much empty of information on her; it only existed because she was publically jounin class. Since no one could really link her to anything, and most of her skills were not flashy other hidden villages did not have a lot to add to it. Her public missions that the civilians had access to did not show her real skill set; all they knew was that she was decent across the board, used blades with great skill and claimed mastery of stealth and traps. It showed nothing of her skills at silent killings, infiltrations, or her true mastery of Kenjustsu.

She was also clanless; her father was a merchant who'd moved to Konoha from the Land of Iron and married her mother, a simple chef at one of the Akimichi restaurants. Without a clan to back her requests up or showy skills to call attention to her, Konila was passed over for other Jounin senseis. One of which, she sighed, would definitely fail his team. One Kakashi Hatake never passed a team! But they kept giving him a team instead of her. She grumbled to herself as she stretched and headed down into town. I wonder if I can do something this year to get them to give me a team; she thought. Maybe take less assassination missions and take something that will land me in the spotlight? She thought but then sighed and shook her head; that was the way to pain and death!

Maybe if I volunteer at the academy… She stopped before grinning; that was a good idea! That way she could show she was a decent teacher as well as see potential students! And if I don't get a team I can always try grabbing an apprentice if I find one who wants to be good with a blade and wants to be a stealthy ninja instead of showy.

A plan made she changed paths towards the hokage's tower; time to ask permission! Surely they could use some help teaching kenjutsu or stealth right?

She was pleasantly surprised when the Hokage appeared enthusiastic about her request.

"Nee, Hokage sama, not to be rude but I wasn't expecting such a response." She said dryly. The old man in front of her was old; an age that most ninjas never saw much less remained in power! There was no denying he was weaker than he might have once been; but even now he was still a force to be feared. Even if he did have this grandfatherly act going on! He smirked and lit his pipe.

"There is a rather important class in their third year. Many clan heirs are within it as well as several highly skilled civilian children. Unfortunately the civilian council keeps trying to butt in and change the curriculum on me… And buying off some teachers to sabotage or favor certain children." He sighed grumpily at that. Konila could figure out who was being sabotaged and who was being favored. It was well known that the civilians hated and feared one orphan by the name of Naruto Uzamaki because of the demon sealed within him. Idiots if you asked her! Not to mention they wanted to make the shinobi clans in debt to them… or have some sort of leverage. They were a bunch of idiots who didn't realize that the academy had been changed for the better and gave all their children a higher chance at surviving!

"I've had to fire a few teaching assistants and that is leaving my teachers a bit stressed. If you would be willing to take over the stealth lessons until I can find a permanent teacher it would help. It'd be even more helpful if you became full time but alas, your skill set is still needed."

She nodded in acceptance. Assassins that didn't die or become broken were a rare thing. Saboteurs land infiltration specialist had as long if not shorter life expectancy. It was one reason they even bothered to put her in the bingo books despite have almost no intel... or maybe because of it.  
"Can do. So I shall still be taking on missions while helping out?"

"Correct. I'll let them know you will be the main teacher for the survival and stealth lectures of the third years. They may ask you to aid in sparring lessons or teaching weaponry. Depends on how over whelmed they get." His eyes twinkled as he finished writing up her new orders and the paper work needed to move her off active duty to semi active. He handed the orders over and directed her to report to the Academy head for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Konila found herself a bit nervous as she stood inside a large room inside the top floor of the academy. They'd called a teachers meeting to introduce her as well as figure out the new curriculum since she was coming in a day late.

"I believe you've all been updated on our new teacher?" A deep voice drawled out lazily from the man slouched at the front of the room. Matsura Nara was the head of the academy despite it being 'troublesome.' A scattering of murmurs acknowledgement swept from the crowd of chuunins eyeing her.

Matsura nodded to her, lazy eyes amused as she straightened and stepped forward.

"I am Konila Inola, jounin with specialties in infiltration, traps, and swords. I applied for a temporary position here at the academy to prove I can teach and maybe that will convince the council to approve me for a genin team." She smiled at the raised eyebrows. "I was told it was to be only for this year or until a proper full time lecture for the stealth and survival class could be found. Unfortunately, I am still semi active so every now and then I will need to be absent for missions."

A man with warm brown eyes and a scar across his nose smiled back as he stood to address. "I am Iruka Umino. Thank you for volunteering to help out. With the last round of … firings;" He paused with embarrassment for his fellow ex teachers. "It's been a bit of scrambling on our side. We could teach it, but we all have other classes during that time slot."

"Mizuki. I don't suppose you'd be up for some kenjutsu lessons on the side?" The man with a long whitish hair next to Iruka introduced himself as he asked his question.

"I don't mind. When is my class by the way? And is there a past lesson plan or shall I wing it?" Konila asked curiously. She didn't mind winging it, but if they had something in place already that would help guide her in what the kids were supposed to know it'd be a big help. She noticed approval in several other of the teacher's eyes.

Iruka held up a folder. "I have both last year's lesson plan and the few years before that. Your students have had a day with another teacher but luckily you've arrived soon enough there shouldn't be too much time left."

"As for times;" Matsura spoke up, "you have three classes of two hours each four days a week. They are at 8 am, 10 am, and 3pm. Fridays are reserved for lecture only classes, kounichi classes, and specialization lectures for students have shown aptitude that needs to be nurtured. Saturdays are test days as well as hands on lectures and mini missions that we will be calling on you to help in. Sundays are free days."

"That is... more intense than I expected." She was a bit surprised at the sheer amount of classes she had to teach. She knew that most teachers here did double duty in the afternoon at the missions desk and had expected more time off. Not that it mattered since she was going to be focusing this to prove she could teach and earn that genin team! "When are kenjutsu lessons?"

"They aren't." Mizuki replied. "Least not yet. We haven't had a kenjutsu specialist to teach."

"I guess that goes in Friday then?"

"I will announce an afternoon lecture after lunch then that all students years 3 or 4 may apply for then." Matsura wrote this down as he was talking. "I will need a lesson plan from you on that before Friday please."

"Hai." She responded eagerly as the conversation then turned to the next item on the list, supplies and the like. She watched and listened mostly. This was unknown territory... but one she thought she could use in future infiltration missions perhaps.

Konila was given a new respect for the chunnins who ran the academy and taught there. While she technically outranked them she felt that all the teachers ought to be upgraded to jounin based on simply surviving the hell that is young teenagers being taught lessons and somehow keeping them under control. She also had some preconceptions shattered she was ashamed to realize. Like many who had reached the jounin status, she believed that chuunins were weaker somehow. They may not have been as good as her in killing people or blowing things up or sneaking in... but they were all masters of their branch of knowledge and good enough to teach. Wasn't there a saying that to truly learn something you had to be able to teach it to another?

Her reception among the teachers was half wary and half gratitude. Wariness as she outranked them and no one liked another barging in and trying to take control; not that Konila had any intentions on doing so. She was merely filling in in hopes of grabbing a team in the future; maybe this graduating class, maybe the next one. The feeling of gratitude was because she was taking a load off their backs by being there full time (minus missions but those she figured would be rare and she'd kidnap a fellow jounin to fill in) as well as she was helping out and adding in new lecture materials. The fact she didn't lord it over them or treat them as lesser (even if she found herself unknowingly assuming things) helped her find an easy comrade in the coming days.

She was currently reading over her lesson plan one last time. She had a class of third years in an hour and was figuring out how to start. 2 hours ought to be long enough to get each class to run an obstacle course of traps to see how well they could sneak by or disarm them right?

She took a deep breath as she sensed the first students arriving for the first class. Time to see how well she could teach!

 _AN: Hopefully the huge time skip (about 13 years) doesn't throw you off!_

 _Haven't decided if she gets one of the ones graduating this year (the year between Naruto's class and Lee's who she just missed getting a team on) or a team from Naruto's class. It'll be a nice amount of time/chapters before this cause I intend to have fun with her as a teacher!_

 _I think I managed to get most of the japanese words correct. I intend to stick with english names for most things except names, titles, and the endings (kun-san-sensei-chan)_

 _Thanks for reading~_


	4. Chapter 3: Kenjutsu Lessons Begin

**Authors Note on weapons:** so googling sword types and names leads me to all sorts of fun information… as I am no expert I've simplified it down to the following. If there's someone who knows more on blades and their actual lengths please do enlighten me!

 _Tanto_ : curved single or double edged blade of 15-30 cm

 _Kodachi_ : curved single edged blade of 30-60 cm

 _Chokuo_ : straight single edged blade of 70-80 cm

 _Katana_ : curved single edged blade of 70-80 cm. (I know there's a _Taichi_ that's the same length but worn hanging from a belt while the katana is worn stashed through a belt… I'm just calling blades this length katana)

 _Odachi_ : curved single edged blade of 90 cm and worn across the back

 _Chui_ : a chinese weapon that's basically a giant metal/stone ball on the end of a long handle. (Ranmao in Kuroshitshuji uses weapons like these)

 _Jitte_ : these are what the teenage mutant ninja turtles wield! :D

 **AN:** Sorry this took so long to post. I had stalled after 1k words and just could not write.. .ended up deleting everything and restarting just so I could write it. Tis a "get to know Konila more" chapter. Chapter 5 is planned out and Ch 6 is going to be a mission so things start picking up then!

 _Italics indicate thoughts or hand sign conversations_ Cause it just makes it easier to indicate that...

 ** _Chapter 3: Kenjutsu class begins_**

Today was the day she'd been looking forward to especially; Friday and her kenjutsu class! It was the second week of school; Matsura Nara had asked for an extra week of advertising among the genin and chuunins when she'd mentioned she didn't mind teaching older students in addition to the academy kids. In fact he'd made a request for her; show off. Make it fancy, make it interesting, and make it attractive. Since they had a jounin teaching he was bragging about it and had apparently invited some people to watch… All of which made her grin. Finally a chance to show off and maybe get some gears in the stupid council's head churning and increase her chance of being a sensei! And maybe more students interested in kenjutsu…. Weaponry use to be far more popular but these days kids liked flashy jutsus and relied mostly on kunai, shurikens and maybe a tanto. She'd already poked a few of her fellow kenjutsu users about covering for her while she was on missions or even continuing on in her place after she left. Though depending on how this year's trial run went she might just tell Matsura to keep her on as a teacher just for the Friday class.

She'd gotten up early that morning and done some intense sparring with a friend before heading home to clean up and prepare for her 1 pm show and tell session. The sparring had done a good job getting rid of any nerves she had; now she felt settled and ready to roll!

Noon came around and she sauntered in an hour before her class to watch and check out the area reserved for her class. It was a large open field behind the school where they usually held throwing and sparring practice; she took the time to clear it of any large rocks as she watched some people show up. Sadly the one thing she had wanted to do to help show off how awesome kenjutsu was a sparring session between her and friend Maito Gai. Unfortunately he was out on a mission. So instead of having a small spar of her weapons versus his taijutsu she had to settle for showing off some of the more complex movements and maybe mix in some jutsu-weapon combos.

 _Maybe I'll save the sparring for when he gets back and show off how to counter weapons,_ she thought as she began her stretches as people began to wander in. Konila smirked when she saw quite a few clan members stalking in to sit off on one side. She could pick out her perspective students easily; they were eyeing her and gossiping and lining up like good little children. She spotted a lot of her current students amid the group gathered. She saw Matsuri lounging on one of the large overhanging branches of a tree that lined this field and nodded at him. He gave an amused wave back and signed at her ' _Go wild girl._ ' The brunette rolled her eyes in amusement as she stood up from her stretches and approached the group.

"For all those here for the Kenjutsu Friday class, I'd like you to sit along this side of the field;" she gestured with her hand. "I am Konila Inola, jounin specializing in kenjutsu, traps, and infiltration. This afternoon class will start at 1 and you can leave at any time. If you come in late to it that's fine; wait off to the side till I approach you. Depending on the skill of the students;" here her eyes wandered over the half of the class that already wore a hait-te, an odd chuunin sticking out among the genins; "I might split you up into groups based on skill. I am also available after class officially ends at 3… if you wish to be taught more in-depth, hang around afterwards." Pacing in front of her audience, the tall shinobi continued "As for what I will be teaching; that can be anything. Today I will be showing you all the various weapons I can teach. At the end I will ask all those present which style or weapon you wish to be taught. I'll start my lessons with the top three favorites. I will spend about two months on one weapon kata before moving to a different one. This class is to let you see how various weapons are used, perhaps find one you wish to learn more in-depth later on, or even start you on a path to mastery if you so wish. This class is not meant to make you more than genin rank in any one weapon. For that you will need to spend more than a single day a week and will need more personal time with a teacher. As for teachers… I am not Konoha's only kenjutsu master- far from it! I plan on calling in some favors and showing off other masters: take that opportunity as a way to get your face and name known to them and see if they wish to take on an apprentice. And yes most of them are looking for an apprentice if they find someone who's suitable."

At that the crowd stirred a bit—apprenticeships were not often offered these days, many jounins are too busy with missions or occupied with a genin team instead. Konila knew however that her fellow kenjutsu- enthusiasts were always willing to teach the next generation...if only the kids would show an interest! Too many prefer fancy jutsus to weapons it seemed.

"As for what weapons I will use—" Konila grinned and pulled out a small scroll from her pouch; with a small application of chakra the scroll suddenly increased in size. Planting the now four foot scroll on the ground she unfurled it and used one hand to flash through some seals as she summoned out the contents. With a soft poof and small wisps of chakra mist, her pride and joy appeared on the ground next to her. Displayed in the shape of a peacock's tail was an armory; polearms, swords, maces, you name it; all the weapons of war gleamed with the promise of death.

"Kenjutsu may mean sword jutsus however it is perhaps better to call me a bukijutsu specialist. I use more than just swords! I usually say kenjutsu though cause people tend to know what that is more often… As such I will be teaching more than just kenjutsu in this class. I am not a master of all of these; that will take many more years…In fact I've only mastered the kodachi and tanto. I am chunin in about half of these, jounin level for the rest."

She lovingly picked up the first of her blades; the smallest of her swords. It was a simple blade; unadorned black handle with a blue grey steel blade; elegant in its simplicity.

"This is the tanto- it is the most common weapon used amongst ninjas and often dual wielded." She took up a stance and began a kata. Her blade sliced quickly as she whirled and lounged. Halfway through she used a half hand seal to summon a second and started another kata to show a dual wielding use. "It is used for close quarters and best at quick sharp slashes."

She ended her kata back where she began the kata; by the armory. Sheathing and replacing them she grabbed the next; kodachi with its blade about twice as long as the tanto.

She slid into a more elegant sweeping kata that had several leaps and rolling stabs within it.

From there she went through the rest of her more common blades, the chokuo, odachito, and katana, to the less well known blades like the butterfly swords, greatsword, jitte, a pair of deer horn knives. After that came the bo staff, naginata, spear, chui, then from there to the more exotic weapons; whips, hand scythes, nunchaku, tetsubo, and an axe. For each she did a single basic kata to start off with before moving to show a more complex style, often throwing in a jutsu combo to demonstrate how you could mix weapons and chakra. All the while she talked on what each weapon was and it's more common use, her breath never faltering nor showing signs of strain.

After her armory had been shown off, she turned and smiled at the group watching. "Does anyone have a weapon they'd like to be shown again before we start voting? That didn't take as long as I thought it would so I can go over a few more again or show off more complex styles…"

She saw Matsura give her a thumbs up before he vanished in a misty smoke as he left. Apparently she'd done well. _I take that back I did really well_ ; She thought as she saw the approval and more intrigued looks on the gathered adults watching behind her class. They group had thought they'd see a few sword styles and maybe something new; they hadn't expected the sheer variety of weapons nor the smooth grace which she used them all. ' _Had no real skills' indeed_! She thought spitefully as she recalled that one council member's comment. Why the council even got a word in who could become a sensei she didn't know… Konila shoved that thought aside and concentrated on her class in front of her as the adult group broke off into groups or left.

"Katana! And.. and like more fire!" She chuckled as Fuji, one of the third years from her class asked excitedly.

A girl with her hair wrapped in two buns and starstruck eyes from another class piped up; "The naginata! Or bo!"

"I'd like to see a more complex tanto… or maybe chokuo." One of the genins asked respectfully.

"I'll do a mix of the last two." She said with a smile. "I tend to dual wield them after all." Holding her long straight bladed chokuo in her right hand in a reverse grip with the tanto held the same in her left. A dash forward, she slid left, blades whirling in a complex dance as they blocked invisible attacks started the style before a roll backwards as the chokuo flipped to a forward grip and she lunged forward again before twirling right, tanto slashing backwards. She swung and slashed her way through, humming softly to herself happily before she leapt backwards, casting a seal-less fire jutsu where her 'opponent' would have been just cause she could… and Fuji had asked for more fire….

"If you do decide to wield a weapon I suggest you learn either one handed seals or go sealess completely." Bowing to the applause of the happy class. "It might take you awhile but if there's no seals there's less warning to give your jutsu away."

"Can you dual wield a tetsubo and sword?" Came a gleeful question from one of the fourth year academy students. Konila laughed and shook her head… but went and grabbed the huge tetsubo war club and a tanto just to show she could.

"It is really foolish and awkward.. but you could…" Lifting it up, she discreetly used chakra to enhance her muscles so she could swing the ridiculously heavy tetsubo one-handed. She did a few attacks before stopping and laughing.

"Oh Kami… that really throws my balance off!" She put it back with a chuckle; it felt like she slightly drunk the way it pulled her around when she did that!

After taking a few more requests she put her weapons away and looked at the sky. "Time to vote! With an hour left I'll basically have enough time to teach you some stretches and exercises you'll need to do to strengthen the muscles so you can actually use the weapons." She snickered at the sounds of grumbling from some of the younger teenagers. "You stretch and do exercises for taijutsu right? Well bukijutsu does the same.. and often you use different weapons than in taijutsu!"

After she collected the votes, she found there was a tie for first place; the tetsubo war club of all things, the bo staff, and the tanto. Katana came in a close second place.

"Well.. I did not expect so many of you to want the large spiky club… so here's what we'll do. I'll split you into three groups. Those wanting to learn the tetsubo gather there, those wanting the bo staff here, and those wanting the tanto there please!" She watched them separate after milling about for a bit trying to pick one. The tanto group ended up with half the class, something she wanted to avoid. "If you want to learn multiple don't worry, you can stay later or I will cycle them back in at a later date. I will probably always have a group doing tanto's simply because they are so versatile and easily obtained." At this the tanto group shrunk a bit more down to even the numbers out.

For the rest of the afternoon she led them through stretches and showed them ways to help build up the muscles needed and how to not overwork them.

"Change up which muscles you work each day. If you don't let your muscles rest they cannot heal and you'll end up hurting yourself. Also take a day off completely every now and then and don't work out at all. Let your body get one good day of rest in before you abuse it again! Class is over officially now-" She was interrupted by one Naruto Uzamaki before she could finish.

"Awww but we haven't been taught the cool stuff yet!"

Konila snickered and shook her head in amusement. "Buuuut- as I was saying, if you wish to stay around for more tips or questions that's fine. I won't officially teach any katas till next week so everyone can be on the same stage to start with." She raised an eyebrow at him and he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Eh heh heh. Sorry for interrupting Sensei."

Half the group split, eagerly talking and animatedly waving their hands in the air. _Hopefully they all stick with it...or I've at least gotten more interested in weapons!_ The rest crowded around her, asking questions about what styles, any extra advice, what's going to be taught after the two months…

She answered the questions as fast as they came until only genin and the few chuunin remained… and some of the adults finally approached.

"I'd like to learn more… is it possible to have some extra lessons during the week?" One of the genins asked. She cocked her head at the boy in a silent question. "Chiu Fai. I'm in the genin corps." He said it a bit defensively; most genin corps were there because they failed their jounin sensei's test.

"Hmmm….. Is that a question a few of you have as well?" She asked the rest who nodded. "Well… I don't mind spending a bit more time. I do teach at the academy right now so evenings are best unless you feel up to a 5 am lesson?" She laughed as she saw them shudder.

"How about 6 pm monday and wednesday? We can go for about 2 hours at this training field. It'll be more intense than the Friday lessons since you are all genin or above. We'll start with tantos since those are cheapest and easiest and then move on to the kodachi, then bo then we'll see what the group wants. "

She got a bunch of eager 'hai!'s from them as more peeled off and left her with the chuunin and the few clan adults.

She cocked her head at chuunin; "Nee Kotetsu.. aren't you supposed to be on gate duty right now?"

The smaller man wrinkled his nose at her; "Ehhh I got it filled in since I wanted to see if you'd show off. Good show Koni." He winked as Konila rolled her eyes.

"You know you just have to ask and I'll take time to teach you and Izumo! You've done it often enough in the past, short stuff. You're just ditching aren't you…."

"Who me?" He asked in a hurt tone of voice as his dark eyes laughed at her. "Actually came to invite you out… our gossip sessions have been lean lately and me and Izu get so lonely at the gate…." He sighed mournfully and she chuckled.

"Been busy settling into teaching. I didn't realize how much paperwork being a teacher generates! So much grading to be done and I do mostly hands on lessons! After I finish here we can catch up?" He nodded before leaving to lean on a tree nearby; obviously not going to leave until he had his gossip needs filled. Not that she minded; Konila did love to gossip!

She turned with a smile to the last two; shinobi from the Akimichi clan and the much smaller Fujimoto clan. She had an idea why the Fujimoto might approach; they were known for their whip-specialists and beautiful seduction-specialist kunoichis; perhaps they had an academy student or genin who didn't follow in the clan specialties?

"How can I help you?" She asked politely as she waited for them to decide amongst themselves which got to go first. Clans and their pride…

"Chaunli Akimichi." He introduced himself. Sure enough it was the more well known clan that got the right to speak first. "You showed great variety and knowledge today. We were wondering if you knew some styles that would suit our clan- while we do prefer taijutsu due to our clan techniques a few members have expressed interest in weapons."

"I know of quite a few. If you could find a way to increase your weapon size along with your body;" she knew for a fact they could; their armor increased so why not just use the same crafting technique on a weapon? "Than I can teach them styles a larger opponent can use against a smaller one. Or any style that is earth based could work to be honest… Send any to the evening extra class and I can get them a weapon and style that will suit them." She offered with a smile; she wasn't going to get herself roped into giving one on one lessons just yet; that was reserved for an apprentice or genin team; like many shinobi, she didn't like giving away secrets or techniques she'd gathered or made herself. She was fine with these large classes and teaching the basic styles or katas; those were easily recreated and hardly secret after all! The weapon specialist was willing to teach D and maybe C ranked styles; anything else was hers to hold onto till she'd found someone worthy. _Plus if I get affiliated with any one clan others won't come to me for lessons… stupid politics_. Konila hid the frown she got when that thought popped up; politics were disgusting.

"We will do thanks for offering this opportunity to konoha's youth." Chaunli gave a brief bow and smile before heading off.

She turned a smile towards the last who gave a similar bow; "We were wondering what type of whip styles you'd learned and if you'd be willing to share." Came the quiet question; like many of his clan he was stunning looking. The Fujimoto took their clan name "Root of the Wisteria" seriously and put great stock in physical beauty at all stages; while the females were more known for seduction, it was the male members that tended to be more skilled at it. _Probably cause people expect kunoichi's on seduction missions but overlook the men for some silly reason._ Konila smirked; "I might.. Sadly those styles are more advanced and… I am less willing to give them away without something in return. Like weapons or styles." She quickly clarified before something else (fun as it could have been ) was offered. Fujimoto's viewed their bodies as weapons and tools; which she didn't mind but a one night stand for her better styles? That was a terrible trade!

His eyes narrowed in amusement; he knew what her thoughts had been. "Perhaps a trade for some of our more known techniques? Enough have seen them that they aren't as secret anymore."

"Hmm...tempting. We could do a spar; I use only one style and you use only one style and whatever we learn from it is the trade?" She and Gai did this a lot; instead of showing and teaching the style or kata; they fought in it. From there they challenged themselves to recreate the technique and the first to recreate the whole thing correctly won. So far he was up four wins on her.

"I have a feeling you'll come out ahead in it… but that sounds like a far more fair trade- When would you be able to spar?" He smiled slightly and finally gave a bow and introduction. "Taira Fujimoto, special jounin specializing in whip-jutsu and part time med nin, at your service."

"I have nothing planned this weekend- I could show up for saturday's mock mission but it's not required."

"Sunday at our clan dojo at 4?"

"Sounds good." The brunette bowed respectfully to him before he left. Then she grinned; they might be going to use the whole clan to try and learn her style but she had practice doing this! An entire new style was hers to play with soon! One of the clan ones too! Konila hummed happily as she practically skipped over to an amused Kotetsu.

"Flirting with another so soon?" He huffed mockingly. "You're so cruel! I thought we had something!"

"Pfft! We do have something…No one can replace my favorite lil ol' lady gossip session buddy! Besides he's pretty but not my type. I like em a bit more rugged." She patted his spiky hair and made him scowl. "You can have him instead. Aren't I the best wing-girl?"

"Oh please! You're the worse wing-girl! Last time you replaced Izumo as my wing-man I ended up going home alone and sober!"

"Details details…" Konila laughed and waved her hand airily. "So where are we headed? I should probably go put my armory back in its safe spot instead of carrying it around.

"We can hit your place first before picking up Izumo." Kotetsu said. "Genma just got back from a mission yesterday and I thought we'd all go to his and get drunk and gossip like the lil ol' ladies we all are."

 _Clarification; Genma got back from an anbu assassination mission and needed a drunken night to help him recover from it._ Konila nodded understandingly; Kotetsu and Izumo as gate guards or as guards in the hokage tower saw everyone entering and leaving. They knew who'd had a bad mission and would often pass on word to the shinobi's friends to let them know. She, Genma, and the 'terrible two' as they were known had run some escort/infiltration missions together and had gotten along and stayed in touch afterwards. When she had a bad mission - _the explosion had taken out a nursery full of kids, screaming burning toddlers_ \- they'd been there to help her out of the drunken pit she'd hid herself in. When Genma had too many anbu missions they'd gotten him to take a break and helped him recover (alcohol, sex, sparring, just being there silently to lend a shoulder). When Kotetsu had come back after being held captive they'd been there to help him recover, help him get back on his feet and regain his smile. When Izumo had that relationship gone sour and abusive they'd been there to give him a place to crash and recover and convince him he wasn't trash.

You helped each other as shinobi; you may not have been on the same genin team, may not have been on the same anbu team, but you found those few special teammates that you'd go to hell and back again for.

 **AN: a bit more serious of an ending but I like it :3 Any critiques, constructive criticism, or reviews are welcome 3 Hopefully next chapter will be easier to write and faster to post!**


End file.
